INSIDE THE BUBBLE | Ann Matzke

 

A sticky wand dipped 
into a plastic bottle. 

Solution slowly snakes 
down your small arm 

bubbles set free. You lay back
as another round of chemo flows

from the umbilical lifeline 
by your bed. 

In masks and gowns helpers 
hover day and night. 

At seven, you struggle to read Hop on Pop.
Yet, you’re fluent in the subtext 

that swims in the shallow pools 
of our eyes. 

Your voice small and steady 
Like a stream of bubbles. 

Words form fluid feelings.  
We talk about life in isolation. 

The latest picture you painted.  
The new bead bracelet on your wrist.

Pieces of the Connect Four game 
lay in a jumble about your feet. 

You tell me how you beat the resident, 
your eyes dance. 

An ember of life before flickers bright. 
Winning makes you smile, 

makes me smile. Too tired, you hand me the wand. 
I blow a gazillion tiny bubbles.   

You lift your hand, “I want inside that one,” 
you point. “I’d float out the door. 

Never come back.” Your small body riddled 
with a disease we have yet to cure. 

“More!” you say. 
I purse my lips, let them fly,  

One, no two, pop on your nose. 
You close your eyes 

and giggle for a long moment, 
forgetting about life

inside 
the 
                            bubble.  


Ann Matzke is a writer whose work has appeared in HEAL: Humanism Evolving through Arts and Literature, Plain Song Review, and The Back End of Tuesday as well as the professional journals Horn Book online and School Library Media. Matzke has worked as a certified child life specialist at Charing Cross Hospital in London and Children's Hospitals in the U.S. and as a children's librarian. She holds a MS degree concentrating on stressful life events for children and families. Matzke, who has published 14 nonfiction books for young readers, earned an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Hamline University. Read more about her work at annmatzke.com

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